First order of business: New Amarillo City Council looks at meeting time, public comments
The new Amarillo City Council held its first official meeting Tuesday afternoon, with new Mayor Cole Stanley and new council members Tom Scherlen and Don Tipps. During the meeting, changes were discussed to meeting times, and changes were made to how public comment is conducted.
Among the most apparent changes that were made was the seating of the city attorney and the city manager, who were both not seated in the raised section of the dais. Jared Miller and Bryan McWilliams were seated in the lower side sections of the dais. According to city officials, this measure was taken to make a clear distinction between elected officials and city staff. Also, the velvet ropes were removed from the area to the front of the audience.
Changes to the public address were made, changing it to a public comment period. Previously, public comment was supposed to be limited to posted agenda items, and now the policy is that the public can speak to anything related to the city business. While this is a change in wording, public comment previously had citizens speaking on subjects not on the agenda with no repercussions.
The first discussion of the new council was about a possible change to its meeting time. Stanley asked the council about moving the meeting time from 1 p.m. to a more convenient time for the public. Previous councils have moved council times to accommodate the public, including 7:30 in the morning, but there has been no major increase in the level of public participation. Councilmember Howard Smith spoke about how the county meetings are done at 9 a.m. and school board meetings are done in the evenings.
Stanley mentioned the possibility of a 3 p.m. time, stating that maybe it could accommodate more citizens. Scherlen stated that he liked the idea of moving the time and wanted to make a motion, but he was reminded that it was only a discussion item.
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“I think there are pros and cons that need to be looked at,” Tipps said. “We need to look at the staff and the overtime because we do not know how late the meetings will go. Moving it later may be great for more people to participate, but maybe fewer people will get a chance to do public comment.”
Stanley said that he would allow public comment as each item comes up until the council saw it as problematic to decorum. He directed the city manager to look at changes for public comment and meeting times for the next meeting.
As the council proceeded to its consent agenda items, councilmember Scherlen asked for seven of those items being pushed to the non-consent agenda. Among those items was the usage of only Express Employment Professionals to use for temporary staffing for city positions. Scherlen took issue with the logic of only using one service to fill staffing needs but was informed that the city allows multiple companies to bid to be its staffing provider.
Miller explained that the city sees this as the most cost-effective and efficient process, using one agency to provide staffing. He also stated that if the city used multiple services, it could impede the ability of the city to get staffing in a timely manner. Council also explained that the vendor was chosen through its bidding process over nine other vendors, and that the city is still seeking to fill these positions through employment. Under this item, funding will not exceed $400,000. The council then voted unanimously to approve the measure.
Another item that Scherlen had concerns over was more than $167,000 in funding to purchase chairs to accommodate the Santa Fe Pavilion for events held there. With the new facility set up now for sports and other public events, seating would be required to accommodate the public. Scherlen asked if it would be more economical to rent chairs, but the city officials stated that would cost more in the long term and would be a bad logistical idea that would create more issues than it solved. Miller also stated that, unlike other city expenditures, this project would make money for the city.
The council voted unanimously to pass the resolution along with a request to get more information on the other costs associated with the new Santa Fe Pavilion. A majority of the discussion centered around getting new members more familiar with the proposals that were submitted. All other measures passed the council with no dissent.
The next council meeting is scheduled for June 13.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: New Amarillo City Council reviews meeting time, public comments
